“Can you try to look a little more respectable? The way you are right now, anyone seeing you would think some demon lord had escaped.”
Dismissed by Li Jia’s inexplicable disdain, Fire Finch merely pouted, her defiant expression unwavering.
‘Respectable? There were only three of them here. Who was she supposed to put on a show for?’
“Take them down. It doesn’t matter if they’re crippled; tonight, every single puppet must vanish from this world!”
Qian Mian’s special ability was simply too troublesome. As long as it remained, they would never know peace.
After all.
No one could tell if a familiar face beside them might one day turn out to be one of his puppets.
This was far more terrifying than any horror story.
Similarly, when dealing with soul-type abilities, the key was to control the user’s main body.
The physical body was the vessel for the soul; as long as his body lived, he could not be reborn through his puppets.
And then there were the sins he had committed!
‘He wanted to die?’
‘Absolutely impossible!’
****
A sliver of dawn began to paint the horizon, and the canopy of stars that had enveloped the city all night dissolved into countless vanishing points of light.
Aya Tone, having stayed up all night, clutched his lower back and let out a weary groan.
“Ah, I’m getting old. One all-nighter and my back aches, my whole body feels drained. It couldn’t be…”
As if struck by a sudden thought, he quickly spat several times.
‘He was a pure and upright person! This was definitely from sitting too long, not from any lewd activities.’
With the domain retracted, the disconnected signal instantly reestablished itself.
“President?” Identifying the caller on his phone, Aya Tone felt no surprise.
After he answered, Fire Finch’s voice boomed from the other end, carrying the unmistakable tone of a gang matriarch.
“Are they all dealt with?”
Aya Tone fell silent.
“My cleanup here is finished. You can send people over to repair the roads now.”
People had awakened their special abilities, which were now integrated into every aspect of life.
A simple repair of the main road, just enough to ensure unimpeded traffic, would take less than an hour.
“Alright.”
Having received her answer, Fire Finch promptly hung up the phone.
She was currently swamped with work; the call had been nothing more than a brief respite from her overwhelming schedule.
To think that a guild president could be the mastermind behind such chaos! Even if it was only a small guild, the severity of its impact was comparable to an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
Therefore, before the situation fully escalated, she needed to be thoroughly prepared to face the coming storm.
Aya Tone gazed at the slowly dimming screen, his thoughts drifting far away.
‘The President didn’t ask me to return to the guild. Does that mean I can just go home?’
With that thought.
His ceremonial attire silently melted back into his body, and he immediately leaped from the top of the tower.
Just as he was about to make intimate contact with Mother Earth, his descent abruptly halted.
Perfect!
Aya Tone couldn’t help but pat himself on the back for his precise control over his magical energy.
After maintaining his domain all night, he was surprised to find that his magical energy had barely been depleted.
This reminded him of the time Big White had prayed to the starry sky and received a restoration.
‘So, was there indeed a boost during the night?’
‘Then, could the Sun-Blessed Attire receive a boost during the day?’
As he pondered this, the hoodie he was wearing was swiftly replaced by a platinum-white ceremonial dress.
Aya Tone tilted his delicate face upwards, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he stared directly into the rising sun.
“Come on! I am the incarnation of the sun!”
Yet, only moments later, he was crouched on the ground, his hands covering his dazed eyes.
“Ugh, my eyes hurt so much! Am I going blind?”
A faint, gentle magical energy glowed in his hands, using it to heal his dazzled eyes.
‘Indeed, experience is the best teacher. Unless absolutely necessary, avoid staring directly at the sun; it will hurt your eyes.’
‘He knew he was wrong, but he’d probably do it again!’
The night’s uproar finally subsided. The anxious residents, having received the guild’s safety notification, slowly began to emerge from their homes.
The city was a chaotic mess, with shattered asphalt strewn everywhere and the roads riddled with potholes.
In some areas, even traces of blood could still be seen.
Nearby, several media personnel, undeterred by danger in their pursuit of traffic, were busily filming the scene with their equipment.
The police officers guarding the area did not attempt to drive them away.
These were all details that the police had intentionally processed before allowing them to be revealed.
Naturally, they wouldn’t obstruct the media’s reporting.
After all, with such a massive commotion last night, it was impossible to keep it a secret from everyone. It was better to be open and transparent, disclosing the truth directly.
Trust was a two-way street.
Candor, in fact, could strengthen public trust in the authorities.
These remnants served as the most compelling evidence.
Uncharacteristically, Aya Tone didn’t use teleportation magic to return. Instead, he walked forward, step by deliberate step.
What he had perceived through his senses and the reality of the scene now presented two entirely different experiences.
Guarding the tower’s summit, like a deity observing mortals, he had felt a pang of guilt, yet it lacked any true sense of reality.
Everything had unfolded like an old, grainy film.
Every action was clear, and even easily overlooked details were vividly displayed.
Unlike now, where he was truly walking through reality.
“Why are there always idiots who want to destroy this peace?”
Aya Tone murmured softly, his voice barely audible even to himself.
His small hand subtly reached for the hood behind him, pulling it forward to securely cover his head.
‘He couldn’t understand…’
The path continued to wind forward.
When he first arrived in this world, he had also wondered if he might be the chosen one.
‘Starting with parents…’
‘Hmm…’
‘He actually didn’t know if his parents in this world were still alive, nor did he possess his original memories.’
‘But things like cars, houses, or a younger sister…’
He had none of those. In fact, his awakened ability had even caused his only younger brother to angrily run away from home.
Yet, even so.
He had lived through the first three years in a daze, surviving even without using his abilities.
His salary might have been low, but at least his life was secure.
‘So, what were they trying to achieve by attempting to destroy this country?’
‘For money?’
‘No, that couldn’t be right. That single bag of demon cores alone would have been enough for them to live lavishly for several years.’
‘Power?’
‘He still couldn’t grasp it…’
“Aiya!”
Aya Tone felt as though he had collided with a wall, the rebound force sending him involuntarily stumbling backward until he landed hard on his bottom.
Rubbing his sore backside, he looked up, determined to see who had dared to crash into him!
“They dared to hit me! Do they have a death wish?”
But in the next instant!
His eyes widened abruptly, his small mouth instinctively falling open, and the curses brewing in his throat instantly transformed into a gasp of astonishment.
“So… so big!”
‘He admitted that he had been a little loud just now.’
‘Ahem! It definitely wasn’t because the other person’s ‘waves’ were justified!’
“Are you alright?” Liu Yanyun felt something bump against her chest, a slight ache, but nothing serious.
More than her own discomfort, she was concerned about the child who had crashed into her quite forcefully.
The city had just endured a battle not long ago. The danger seemed to have passed, but who knew if it was merely an illusion created by the enemy?
‘How could parents be so careless with their children!’
‘How could such a small child be allowed to run around unsupervised like this!’
“Uh…” Seeing the police officer’s angry expression, Aya Tone felt an inexplicable pang of guilt.
“That… my fault. I’m so sorry.”
‘If he apologized properly, they wouldn’t take him back to the station for pork chop rice, would they?’
‘They wouldn’t, right…?’
He shuffled backward, feeling guilty.
‘Surely, accidentally bumping into someone wouldn’t be considered assaulting an officer… would it?’